The Freedom for Beasts
by Spatix
Summary: In an uncivilized world, a girl tries desperately to hold onto the values that make her human. She clings to a reality that just does not exist in Neverland and she is forced to watch herself lose her morality. Because Peter Pan always wins.
1. Chapter One

**The Freedom for Beasts**

**Written by: Spatix**

**Chapter One**

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><p>It was a bitter cold. It was the type that left a person still trying to warm themselves hours after escaping it. Winter was just beginning and it would be months until there would be hints of green and life.<p>

There was a light dusting of snow on the ground when Nora walked out of her family's cabin to begin her chores. Her shoes were made of a simple leather and did little to protect her feet as they began to soak in the moisture from the ground. She scrunched her nose in discomfort but decided to hurry and grab the eggs from the coop so she would be out of the cold much quicker.

Nora fumbled for the handle to the coop, muttering profanities under her breath. The sun had yet to come up, it would still be another hour, but the world did not wait for the sun to make its appearance to start the day.

The hens did little to stop her from taking the eggs from beneath them. This was rather unusual, but the cold effected everyone. Nora knew that in the coming months they would lose more hens and roosters than they could afford.

Winters were unforgiving.

By the time Nora was back in the cabin the moisture had soaked her feet sending chills up and down her spine. She set the basket of eggs on the small wooden table before setting her shoes next to the fireplace to dry. She had just sat down at the small kitchen table when her mother walked in.

Her mother, a slim woman with greying hair and a sharp face, strode into the kitchen while tying her apron around her waist. "Did you get the eggs?" she asked, her voice sharp. Her eyes never met her daughter's.

"Ye-"

"Oh, there they are. Could you go out to the well and pull up some water?" Her mother began taking the eggs out, inspecting each one, then sorting them into two different piles based on what she saw.

Nora bit her lip and frowned. "My shoes are-" she was cut off.

Without looking up at her daughter, she answered, "Thank you, darling. Oh, and while you're out there could you check to see if your father has fed the sheep yet? Thank you!" Nora sat at the table for a moment, pursing her lips and wondering if she should try to convince her mother to let her stay in for a few more minutes, but decided against it.

She stalked over to the fireplace and kneeled down to feel her shoes. They wouldn't be dry for hours. Nora grimaced as she thought about venturing into the dark with nothing but her stockings to prevent the snow and cold from biting at her feet, but she knew that wearing the wet shoes would be worse than wearing nothing on her feet.

Nora took a deep breath before, without a second thought, she sauntered back outside.

By the time the sun set that day, Nora was exhausted. Her shoes had never fully dried and she spent more time out in the cold than she would like to remember.

The small family of three sat around the fireplace. Nora's father, a man by the name of Al with thinning hair and pointed features, sat in a stiff wooden chair whittling a small piece of wood. He leaned so far forward in his chair that Nora wondered if his back was ever going to straighten out again.

Her mother, Valenia, had a pair of her father's overalls in her lap and was once again stitching up a hole that appeared where his knee should be. Her lips were pursed and her eyebrows were drawn together in concentration. A wisp of grey hair had fallen into her face, but she didn't remove it.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence.

Nora sat on the hard floor warming her bare feet in front of the fire. She had switched from her heavy petticoat to her nightgown immediately after finishing her chores. She began to think about the next day and the misery that it would bring, knowing full-well that there was nothing she could do to end it.

She hated the cold. She hated the way it bit and clawed its way through thick garments and furs just to cause misery. It killed everything in its path. The trees, flowers, and animals all suffered. They would have to endure or let it kill them. It was a terrible curse.

"It's time for bed. Come," Valenia ordered. Wordlessly, Nora put out the fire and pulled herself off the wooden floor. Her legs ached and she wanted nothing to stretch them out, but her mother would disapprove. Nora could see her mother standing above her saying, "How un-ladylike of you, Nora! Now go check on the sheep!" Nora had to keep herself from sneering at the mental image of her mother. Even in her mind she wasn't free from her mother's wrath.

Nora loved her, she was her mother, but that was it. She was a child born to serve and carry on the family name. She knew they had wanted a boy, but they were too poor to afford another child. She knew the only thing that kept her parents from dumping her in the woods and leaving her to starve was the strict code that Valenia followed. There was nothing more dishonorable than killing your own child. Nora was kept alive by nothing more than a moral code.

She walked into her room, a closet really, and closed the door behind her. It wasn't much, in fact there was only room for a small bed, but it had a window. It was small and round with a thick coat of dust around it. Nora had to stand atop her bed to see out, but it was a treasure that she adored. She especially loved the nights when there was a full moon and the light would stream in and spill out onto the floor. When this happened she would pretend she was somewhere else. Anywhere else. A place where she could be happy, adored by others, and she would feel safe.

Nora climbed into her bed and pulled the quilt up to her neck. It was going to be a long cold night.

By the end of the week three hens and one rooster were dead. Each night brought more snow and they feared that unless it stopped they would be snowed-in. Which meant no food. Which meant death. It was not common for people to die that way, but it was still unpleasant.

Each night Nora went to bed tired and woke up feeling worse. A weight of dread had settled itself into her stomach, and each day it grew heavier. She did not want to die. Her room was so cold that she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to wake up in the morning.

She hated winter.

Nora was unable to go to sleep. The cold was becoming unbearable, even wearing multiple layers of clothing and her quilts wrapped tightly around her body. She had suggested to her parents earlier that day that they should keep a fire in the fireplace, but her mother had quickly dismissed the idea because they were not sure how long their current stack of logs would last them and they didn't want to waste them.

She didn't know how long she lay in her bed before she crawled out and walked into the main room with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She could hear the wind howling outside and she unconsciously wrapped herself tighter with the blanket. Even though it was pitch black she could see that outside the window it was snowing. It fell in sheets. A steady stream of a dull white against the black.

She turned away from the sharp and deadly reminder and walked over to the fireplace. The heat was long gone, but still she searched. Nora stuck her hands through the coals and reached for the bottom. She wrapped her hand around a handful and pulled up. Their heat was dying, but there was still some there.

She sat there for the rest of the night hugging the coals hoping that the cold would end.

When her parents stumbled into the room hours later they didn't bother to look down at their daughter. Even in the morning light Nora could see the dark circles under their eyes. No word was spoken as the family of three prepared for the laborious tasks for the day.

It snowed throughout the day. By the time Nora sat down to eat her porridge that night she was soaked to the bone. Her wet clothes, along with her parents' clothes, hung by the fireplace in a desperate attempt to dry them enough before the next day. Even though she was in her dry night dress she found it difficult to move. Her limbs were stiff and her hands shook as she would bring the spoon to her mouth. Her whole body ached with each movement and her head pounded. Normally she would have been worried, concerned, but not now. It was too much energy.

Nora took a few more bites of the stale porridge and slid out of the chair. She didn't even realize she had walked to her room until she was climbing into her bed. She wrapped herself in the quilt and lay on the bed waiting for sleep to take her. Hours passed before sleep began to tug at her eyes and the cold was beginning to numb her legs and fingers.

No sound was made, no flash of light was seen, but Nora got an overwhelming feeling of being watched. She opened her eyes slowly and what caught her eyes that something was off was that the small window above her bed was open. She didn't even realize that it could open.

She sat up quickly, now wide awake, and racked her brain for reasons why her window could possibly be open. Nora stood up on her bed and reached out her hand to push the window shut when she was suddenly knocked backwards off her bed and onto the hard floor.

Nora sat on the wooden floor for a moment completely taken aback. She looked at her bed quizzically. She was just beginning to push herself back up when she looked forward and her eyes met startling white ones. For several moments not a word was said. She gazed into the white eyes and they gazed back into hers.

"Who," Nora managed to choke out, "who are you?" There was no answer. Breaking eye contact, she looked at the rest of the body and was surprised find that the figure was solid black and hovering above the ground.

The figure kept its eyes locked on hers for an uncomfortable amount of time, especially given how close it was to her. Nora, having enough, reached out her hand to gently push it away when the figure violently jerked backwards. It looked towards the window then back to her one last time before it flew out.

Nora sat on the floor for the rest of the night trying to figure out what had happened.

She developed a cough by the next morning. It would rack her body and leave her throat sore. That was how she walked into the main living area the next morning. Valenia was putting dishes away and her father, Al, was slipping into his boots to head outside and complete his chores.

"You overslept. I had to go out into the cold to get the eggs." It was quick and sharp, just like her mother. Nora opened her mouth to answer but all that came out was a cough. Valenia didn't have to utter a word to show her disapproval, it showed on her face.

Nora grabbed a bowl of, rather cold, porridge and sat down in the chair. She ate her porridge slowly, never looking up at her mother.

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Nora helped her father with the sheep and they managed to gather enough logs for the fire to last a week. It was the first good news they've had in days.

That night Nora lay curled on top of her bed reliving the night before. Was it all just a dream? No, she had bruises on legs from when she fell –or was pushed- off her bed. Perhaps she was just delirious and when she fell off her bed she imagined the figure. Those eyes, though, she could never imagine those. They were white orbs. They were so beautiful.

A gust of cold wind bit at her neck.

Nora didn't have to look up to know that the window above her bed was open, again. Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention and she saw the black figure in the shadows of her room. Actually, all she could see were its eyes. The brilliant white orbs.

"What do you want?" she asked, curiously. The figure didn't say a word, but moved closer to her bed so that they were only an arm's length away. "Why are you here?" she prodded, but she didn't receive an answer.

The figure held its hand out. Nora stared at it for a moment, unsure of what she should do, but then clasped her hand with its hand. The figure began to fly slowly towards the open window, its eyes on hers the whole time.

Nora felt her feet lift off from the ground and for that second she experienced pure bliss. She was flying. She wasn't tied down. She was free.

When she looked up and saw that the figure wanted her to go through the window she let go of her grip. She landed on the bed and saw the figure staring at her, several feet above her. It didn't say a word.

She began to explain, "I can't leave. I can't just leave my parents here-" The figure, without warning, rushed forward violently. Nora could feel the anger radiating off of it and, for the first time since meeting the creature, she felt that it would harm her.

It grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "They need me." Her voice was barely above a whisper and a small cough escaped her lips. She tried to bring a happy memory of the three of them together, just one single memory that could persuade her to stay. "They…" her voice trailed off. Her mind came up blank.

"Just-just tell me where we're going," she said, after several seconds of silence. The negative energy that surrounded the creature dissipated immediately. Its tight hold on her hand lessened and pulled her up so that she was at eye-level with it.

An understanding passed between them.

She was not going to return. The life she knew would be gone. Her choice was permanent, whether she liked it or not.

And so she resigned herself to this fate and didn't look back.

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><p><strong>And chapter one is finished! I hope you all enjoyed the introduction. From here on out this will focus on Nora and her time in Neverland. I am still debating on whether to bring in the main characters from OUAT or not, but that won't happen for quite some time if I do.<strong>

**I hope you all enjoyed this!**


	2. Chapter Two

**The Freedom for Beasts**

**Written by: Spatix**

**Chapter Two**

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><p>They soared above the countryside. Nora watched in wonder as the towering trees slowly turned into mere dots against the snowy landscape as she and the figure continued to gain altitude. She didn't think about where the figure was taking her and she honestly didn't care. She had never experienced such freedom before and she wasn't going to let the moment pass her by.<p>

The longer they flew the colder it got. Her feet were numb and she was beginning to lose feeling in her fingers. She wished she had thought to put on her heavy petticoat before she left, anything really, other than her thin nightdress. It did little to protect against the cold and it was scratchy, besides she thought it was one of the ugliest things she had ever seen.

"How much longer?" she complained. Her arm was growing stiff and she was growing restless. The blissfulness of freedom had passed and now she just wanted to see where the figure was taking her.

The figure looked down at her for a second, as if it forgot she was there, but then turned back to staring at the stars. Nora was surprised it even acknowledged her. She wasn't expecting an answer, to be honest. It either didn't speak or couldn't, either way she would never receive an answer.

Nora looked up towards the stars trying to figure out what the figure was seeing. She knew little about the stars and how the sailors used them for navigation. As if sensing what she was trying to do, the figure used its free hand and began pointing to the sky. She noticed and tried to follow to where it was pointing to.

"The star to the right?" she asked, unsure as to where it was actually pointing to. The figure shook its head and pointed two more times. "The second star to the right?" she asked. At this the figure nodded its head and turned back to the stars, once again ignoring her.

She didn't realize just how tired she was until she opened her eyes and saw daylight. The sun was just beginning to come up, but it was there. She looked below her and saw that they were quickly approaching an island.

It was an emerald green. Trees covered the majority of the island. There were two mountains, but they were small enough to not have snow on the peaks. White sand ran all along the perimeter of the island, a barrier against the clear water that surrounded it. It was beautiful.

Nora didn't realize she was holding her breath until the figure began to descend so quickly that she let out a gasp. They were heading for a beach with the beautiful white sand and the clear water. She breathed in through her nose and was happily surprised to smell the salty air. She was so caught up with the beauty of the land that she didn't realize the figure's hold on her was slipping until it was too late.

She looked up in horror towards the figure but it didn't acknowledge her. She fell for what seemed like hours, but it was only seconds. She didn't look down, only watched as the figure continued to fly away. A gasp of surprise and hurt escaped her mouth when she hit the water. She sank.

For a moment she didn't do anything. She had been cold for so long that the warmth of the water shocked her. Her feet and hands had been numb for so long that she didn't think they would ever warm up, but the water rejuvenated her. The warmth spread through her body so fast that it took her several seconds to fully comprehend what it was doing.

Nora glanced up towards the surface to find that it was slipping farther and farther away. The happiness she felt vanished as quickly as it appeared. She kicked her legs and pushed her arms forward and within two strokes she broke the surface. She spit out the salty water that had gathered in her mouth and inhaled sharply.

The salty air filled her lungs and a feeling of complete serenity filled her. Swimming in clear water and resting on a white sand beach had only been a far-off dream by a naïve girl in a small cabin in the woods.

She looked towards the beach and began to swim.

She was exhausted by the time she reached the shore. She knew how to swim but the small creeks that crawled through the forest were no comparison to the vast ocean that tried to pull her under with each stroke.

Nora lay on the beach, trying to relax her muscles and catch her breath. She looked up towards the sun and sighed. She could feel the sun's rays on her exposed arms and legs, and it didn't take long until she felt her eyelids getting heavy. She had been awake most of the night and woke up terribly.

By the time she woke up again the sun was beginning to set. Warm oranges and reds coated the sky and she thought that it was the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen. After laying there for a moment, she sat up slowly and stiffly and turned around, seeing the island for the first time from the ground.

The first thing she noticed was the height of the trees. They towered over her with their long limbs stretching from the trunks that weaved through each other. The large trees sat on the edge between sand and dirt. The beach didn't go far inland, and from where she lied she could feel a soft cool breeze coming from the jungle.

Nora pushed herself off the ground and tried to brush off the sand that stuck to her body and hair, but it was a failed attempt. She pulled the damp stockings off her feet and threw them behind her, happy to be rid of them. She curled her toes into the sand and smiled.

She turned her attention back to the jungle and sighed. Every instinct screamed at her that nothing good would come from it, but her desperation to leave her old life behind deafened them and, before she could lose her courage, strode into the jungle.

The jungle was surprisingly cool. There was a constant soft cool breeze that seemed to come from every direction. At her feet were plants that she had never seen before. She recognized some that were perhaps related to ferns, but the majority were exotic and new. Above her was the thick canopy of tree branches, leaves, and vines. It successfully blocked any remaining sunlight from streaming through.

It didn't take long for her to get lost. The lack of light made it difficult for her to specifically recognize what trees and plants she had already passed and within minutes of walking into the jungle she had lost sight of the beach and she couldn't tell what direction she was walking in.

The longer she walked the more her legs ached. Even though she had slept most of the day exhaustion still made her eyelids heavy and her walk slow. Eventually she found a tree with branches low enough for her to climb up so that she could sleep.

The branch was wide enough so that she could easily sit on it, but just thin enough so that just the slight tilt of her body could send her falling to the ground. She drifted in and out of consciousness, never falling into a deep sleep and constantly alert for any danger. Being thrown into an environment so strange and foreign, no matter how visually beautiful it was, made her nervous because she had no idea what predators were out there or what to expect.

While she lay on the branch trying to keep herself from jumping at every sound, she thought about where she was going. She had ventured into the jungle from the comfort of the beach without even a second thought. It sent a chill down her back. She was a practical person, always thinking things through before entering a situation. Except now. She was being careless in a strange, and possibly hostile, environment. What struck her as odd was that she was caught up in the beauty of the island that she never did to stop to think about why she was there. She was stuck on a large island with no other human beings to be seen and the figure had just-

Her train of thought halted. The figure. She had not seen it since it dropped her in the sea. The sudden revelation set a small burst of adrenaline through her body so she pushed herself off the branch and climbed down from her perch in the tree. She didn't know where she was going, but at least now she had a destination.

She had just managed to put both of her feet on the ground when she looked up to find six boys staring at her, just mere feet away. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back into the tree. They stood there staring with slight amused expressions on their faces.

After several moments in silence, except for the heavy breathing produced by Nora, one of the boys stepped forward. He was tall, considerably taller than his companions, and he wore a hood that covered most of his face, but his white-blonde hair streaked out from under his hood and his sharp facial features paired with his pale skin made it almost impossible to not notice.

"Who are you?" His voice startled her. It was not because it was deep, which it was, but because of the tone he used. It sounded like he already knew the answer, as if he found her amusing as she fumbled for words.

After she managed to regain a part of her composure, she managed to answer back, "My name is Nora." She paused. "Who are you?" He took another step forward, easily closing the distance between them in one stride so that he towered over her. From her perspective she could see a large scar running across half his face, between his eyes and down the right of his face. He looked at her from under his eyebrows and she felt as if he could see every secret that she held.

A small, rather vicious, smile played on his lips. "I am just a messenger. Now, why don't we head back to our camp where we can all sit down and have a little chat?" His startling grey eyes never left hers.

Nora was experienced enough to be able to read just how much of a threat men could be. She knew to stay away from the drunks by the tavern and the men that hid in the alleyways. Even a few of the nobles were bad news, but something resided in the boy's eyes that made her cower in fear. She couldn't place what it was. It was a mixture of a lust for control, her death, and power.

Every cell in her body screamed to run from this boy who could possibly kill her in more ways than she could count. And he would take pleasure in it. Perhaps her eyes betrayed her emotions too well because her foot had barely left the ground so that she could make a run for it when the boy's hand grabbed her throat and pushed her against the tree.

His voice took on a darker tone, "Let me rephrase what I said: You are coming with us." With each word his hold on her neck tightened until she couldn't breathe. Just when her vision began to narrow and her lungs began to burn from a lack of oxygen, he released his hold on her and she fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Come on," he ordered. "We don't want to keep him waiting." Nora didn't have the energy, or her voice, to ask who the boy meant by "he" but by this point she did not care. Two of his companions grabbed ahold of each of her arms and pulled her up so that she was standing. She felt a sharp pain in her back and realized that one of the boys had snuck around and was now prodding her to move on with a spear, as if she was livestock. She turned her head around to glare at him, but the boy behind her gave her another prod and she had no choice but to walk.

She follow the boy with the scar through the jungle. He walked confidently, and it was easy to see that he knew the jungle like the back of his hand. Nora kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to set off any of them, especially the one with the scar. She could still feel his hands around her throat, and she knew that there would be bruises there by morning.

They walked in complete silence for what felt like hours. She was beginning to doubt that the boy with the scar was actually taking her to a camp, but actually just kidnapping her because he had lost his mind, when the seven of them stepped into a small clearing.

A large group of boys were dancing around a large fire in the center, all of them chanting and hollering as loud as they could. Knapsacks and blankets were spread around the clearing, as if they were just thrown there by their owners –which was probably true. Around the perimeter of the clearing were trees so close together that it worked as a fence. The only real opening she could see was from where they were walking, and even then it was narrow.

The moment she crossed the perimeter and entered the clearing all of the yelling, dancing, and chanting ended. Each and every one of the boys turned to look at her as she walked in. No one moved.

"Aw, boys. We were having such a fun time! Come on, let's dance some more!" A voice spoke out from the shadows on the far side of the clearing. Nora had just enough time to register the voice before a boy side-stepped right in front of her. She took a step back in surprise, but managed to suppress a yelp that was jammed in her throat.

The boy in front of her was tall and slender. His hair was cut shorter than the one with the scar, but his was a mousy-brown color instead of a pale blonde. His eyebrows were pulled together creating a little crease in the middle of his forehead, but he didn't seem aggressive only curious. His face looked young, but there was an air about him that seemed far too confident for just a boy.

He took a small step closer to her. "What are you doing on my island?" He had a thick accent, one that was not common from her village back home. His wording was what threw her back. These were the only people she had seen on this island, but to suggest that only a mere boy could own such a marvelous place made her laugh.

And laugh she did.

The slight chuckle that passed her lips took her by surprise as much as the boy in front of her. He drew his head back and cocked it slightly. "Do you think that's funny?" he asked, seemingly more perplexed than actually angry.

She didn't answer his question, but only stated, "My name is Nora." The boy in front of her smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, then, welcome to Neverland, Nora." He turned on his heel and began to walk towards the dancing boys –who she had all but forgotten about-but he turned around to yell back at her.

"My name is Peter Pan. I'm sure you'll have a splendid time here."

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><p><strong>And from here on out, Pan is going to be an ass. He's such a complicated, twisted person and I really want to play with that.<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**


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